The proposed site is currently a council-owned car park on Mill Street, and was once home to a well-known Elizabethan cockpit.

The project’s backers hope the proposed Playhouse and International University College will draw students and theatre-goers from across the world.

George Howarth MP said in the Commons: “The Prime Minister might know that Knowsley also has a Shakespeare connection.

“Will he lend his support to the proposal for a Shakespearean theatre of the north to complete the triangle - the Globe theatre, Stratford-on-Avon and Knowsley -in a celebration of Shakespeare’s work?"

Knowsley MP George Howarth, discussing plans for a major Shakespearean theatre and college in Prescot. Marie Rimmer, St Helens and Whiston MP, is sat to his right.

David Cameron replied: “That sounds like an excellent proposal. We should not try to constrain Shakespeare to Stratford, but make sure that this is a national—indeed, international—celebration, so I shall look carefully at the right hon. Gentleman’s proposal.”

He also joked about the drawn-out Labour reshuffle: "There was a moment when it looked like this reshuffle could go into its Twelfth Night. It was a revenge reshuffle so it was going to be As You Like It.

"I think though we can conclude it's turned into something of a Comedy Of Errors, perhaps Much Ado About Nothing?"